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Modern San Francisco wedding at Foreign Cinema

If you have your heart set on tying the knot in San Francisco proper, let Alex + Dan’s wedding be your guide. Their style was modern, coastal California—think succulents, California wines, and a stylish, but laidback cocktail hour vibe—and they wanted to show their 165 guests all that the area has to offer. Restaurant venue, Foreign Cinema, is right next to their home, so their guests all truly got to experience their San Francisco lifestyle. After perusing the images by Kim Smith-Miller Photography, you’ll feel like you were right there with ’em!

​Lauren of Ryder Sloan Events​ explains, This October, ​Dan and Alex were married under a beautiful custom chuppah with a fall palette of ​bittersweet berries, soft pink dahlias, and grayish greens at local favorite, Foreign Cinema restaurant in San Francisco’s vibrant Mission District. The guys wanted an intimate feel for their large guest count and the venue’s bistro lit courtyard that plays old movies on the back wall was the perfect cozy urban setting for the evening. They also ventured out to some of the most picturesque spots the Bay Area has to offer and also some super cool graffiti covered alleys. ​Family met them prior to the Ceremony atop Bernal Heights Hill for portraits and the duo even trekked out to ​Fort Funston along the Pacific Ocean for some seaside shots.

Alex + Dan are both from the east coast, so their main goal was to show their friends + fam the best of California, including their home neighborhood, the Mission. Foreign Cinema is just six blocks from their house!

Note to engaged Cakies: make sure there’s pleeeenty of time for portraits!

Once back at Foreign Cinema, they held their ketubah signing ceremony upstairs in the venue’s “projection room” with immediate family and friends. From this room, you can see the whole restaurant and they were able to view their guests trickling in to celebrate them. Both grooms were escorted down the courtyard aisle by both parents to the tune of “Dancing in the Moonlight” by a solo live guitarist. And a sister and a cousin acted as bridesmaids in chic rose gold colored sequined dresses. Friends and family offered the traditional seven blessings during the ceremony and guests were surprised to find bubble guns under their seats for the Grooms’ festive Recessional to “Signed, Sealed, Delivered.”

They landed on Kim Smith-Miller Photography​ after searching for a photog who had shot at FC’s unique space before, was comfortable shooting a gay couple, and knew exactly how to capture the vibe of the day. Check, check, and check.

And their fave memory? This one, of course… Dan says, The horah is a traditional Jewish dance where the grooms are lifted on chairs while the crowd dances around them in a circle. Normally, they’re up in the chairs for ~30 seconds. Ours ended up going for three minutes, during which the men lifting us got pretty exhausted and the chair Alex was in started to fall apart! Scary in the moment but a fun memory!

Get inspired by their style on Pinterest (where Dan happens to work!). Cheers, you two!